Monty Bennett’s name will not appear on the ballot for the Tarrant Regional Water District board of directors yet he remains a powerful backstage player whose influence could shape the direction of the district’s business for years to come.

Khosrow Behbehani, a biomedical researcher, inventor and chairman of the University of Texas at Arlington Department of Bioengineering, has been appointed dean of the University’s College of Engineering.
Behbehani succeeds Jean-Pierre Bardet, who will continue as a member of the civil engineering faculty.
Behbehani joined The University of Texas at Arlington in 1985 and has served as chairman of his department since 2002. He holds nine patents, with one patent pending, and is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.
“Dr. Behbehani has played an integral role in the development of our research program, and we are pleased that he has agreed to lead the pioneering and cutting-edge work of our College of Engineering faculty and students,” President James D. Spaniolo said in a news release. “Dr. Behbehani has a long-standing passion for this university and understands the impact it has had – and will have – on our world.”
His work has attracted significant support from the U.S. Department of Education, the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. In recent years, Behbehani has garnered recognition for his work to develop an ultrasonic sleep apnea detection system, a portable device that improves detection and ultimately treatment for patients.
The UT Arlington College of Engineering has more than 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students and includes more than 200 faculty members. The engineering college has an annual budget of $26.3 million and total research expenditures exceeding $30.6 million. The college includes seven departments and more than 23,000 alumni, many of whom lead major national and international corporations.
“We have a tremendous amount of talent among our faculty members and students, and we are committed to moving the UT Arlington College of Engineering to the top tiers of engineering schools,” Behbehani said. “We will be a center of innovation for solving the world’s most pressing problems and the first choice for the best students who are want to pursue careers in engineering.”
Behbehani earned his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Louisiana State University, a master’s degree in systems engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and his doctoral degree in engineering science from the University of Toledo.
He spent five years with the Puritan Bennett Corp., then a California-based manufacturer of critical care respiratory devices, before returning to the world of academic research at UT Arlington.